1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disposable outer rain garments which may be dispensed from a continuous web, and more particularly, to pull-over type disposable rain coats or jackets.
Disposable outergarments, such as foul weather clothing, are well known in the art, as is the practice of dispensing such types of clothing from a continuous sheet or roll constituted of a thermoplastic web material. Clothing of this type includes coats, ponchos, hooded jackets, headwear and pants. The primary advantage of these outergarments resides in that they are easily dispensed and donned by the wearer, they are of a lightweight construction, and are inexpensive so as to render them economically disposable after even a single use if the wearer chooses to discard the garment.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In the prior art, several types of such disposable articles are disclosed, particularly disposable rain or foul weather garments which are, however, subject to several disadvantages and, in many instances, inconvenience the wearer.
Goldenberg U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,096 discloses a continuous sheeting which is adapted to be separated along suitable tear lines into individual ponchos. The ponchos have open sides which allow wind and rain to swirl about and under the garment whereby a garment of that kind is not particularly practical in a driving rain or under windy conditions.
Leadford U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,518 relates to disposable rain ponchos formed from a continuous plastic web material, and attempts to deal with the problem encountered in Goldenberg by providing ties at the edges of the material enabling the front end back of the poncho to be tied together. This type of poncho also is not particularly useful when the wind is high in intensity.
Neuls U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,067 describes other types of disposable wrap-around type ponchos formed from continuous webs of thin flexible webs, which also must be provided with ties in order to ameliorate the effects of wind on the usefulness of the poncho, and the construction thereof is subject to the same disadvantages as the prior art garments.
The novel pull-over type of disposable rain garment pursuant to the present invention obviates the problems of strong winds and driving rain which are encountered with the poncho type garment. Although the prior art discloses several versions of disposable rain garments of the pull-over type; each is subject to one or more disadvantages or limitations, one of the most important of which being the unduly high cost of manufacture of such disposable garments. Disposability is, of course, a primary consideration that such articles must be relatively inexpensive to manufacture whereby the cost to the wearer is sufficiently low to render the disposing of the garments economical.
However, in the prior art, the necessary low cost of manufacture of the disposable garments is obviously adversely affected by the need for elaborate and expensive form-shaping techniques and the resulting styles. Thus, Polster U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,802 disclosed disposable garment formed from a continuous web of a flexible material, which are provided with arm sleeves and a hood for the wearer's head. A similar article of disposable wear is described in Knight U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,443. An additional disadvantages resulting from this construction of the disposable garment is that, in order for the garment to be able to be pulled over the wearer's head and torso such that the wearer's arms may fit into the sleeves, the material must be stronger and tear-resistant in nature so as to be functional. This will lead to increased costs in manufacture, as well as to an increased cost to the ultimate user. Furthermore, the presence of sleeves and hoods on the garments, while being practical and aesthetically attractive, will necessitate the manufacture of garments of various sizes so as to resultingly, increase costs of manufacture. This may also increase prices for the retail consumer, and may in all likelihood negate the advantageous aspects of disposibility of the garments.
A further disadvantage of prior art pull-over type disposable rain garments is the lack of comfort which is usually afforded to the wearer, inasmuch as the garments described herein above must be sized in order to properly fit with some degree of comfort to the wearer. In this connection, Villafene U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,229 discloses a garment incorporating an operable T-shaped perforation for inserting the garment over the head of the wearer, and also provides slits in the front of the garment which permit the wearer to extend his hands or arms out of the garment. However, this T-shaped perforation, when torn open to allow for wearing of the garment, exposes the neck and chest of the wearer to the inclement weather, and if the wearer is of small stature, may also expose a considerable portion of the body of the wearer to the elements.